Child marriage and well-being in Central and Western Africa: A scoping review of costs and potential benefits for girls
Summary & Objectives
This scoping review synthesises evidence on the costs and potential benefits of child marriage for girls’ well-being in Central and Western Africa, a region where the practice remains widespread. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies and grey literature published between 2014 and 2023, the review aims to move beyond documenting harm to examine how child marriage affects multiple dimensions of adjustment, including mental health and psychosocial well-being. The authors use Self-Determination Theory to organise findings around autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and to identify gaps for future research.
Findings
The review includes 13 studies (nine qualitative and four quantitative). Across the evidence, child marriage consistently undermines girls’ autonomy, limits opportunities to build competence, and constrains relatedness, particularly through reduced agency in decision-making and restricted access to education and social networks. Child marriage is associated with negative mental health outcomes, including psychological distress and reduced subjective well-being. At the same time, the review documents that some girls report perceived benefits, such as increased social recognition, adult status, or material security, especially in highly constrained settings. These perceived benefits do not offset the broader pattern of compromised well-being but help explain why child marriage may be tolerated or defended within certain social contexts.
Recommendations
Future research should adopt holistic measures of well-being, rather than focusing narrowly on single outcomes, and should explicitly examine processes of adjustment over time. Studies should pay closer attention to girls’ own perspectives, including how social recognition and status interact with mental health and agency. For policy and programming, the findings underscore the need for interventions that address psychosocial well-being and mental health alongside prevention, and that engage with the social norms sustaining child marriage while expanding girls’ real alternatives.
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